Apparatus for manufacturing bags



May 12, 1931. c. F. SPARKS APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING BAGS l t e e h 4 S t e e h s 2 6 2 9 1 2 0 N d e 1 1 F N Nk v O Wok-QM .QQ kakkkmu QZQ k May 12, 1931.

C. F. SPARKS APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING BAGS Filed Nov. 22, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 12, 1931 UNITED STATES CHARLES F. SPARKS, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING BAGS Application filed November 22, 1926. Serial No. 149,872.

This invention relates to bag manufacture and with regard to certain more specific features, to a method of, and apparatus for manufacturing bags and feeding them from a sewing machine, into and through a bag turning and stacking device.

Among the several objects of the inventlon may be noted the provision of a combination of elements comprising apparatus adapted 1 to permit the functioning of the herein described new, continuous bag making method, the method comprising sewing bag seams and with a coordinating motion placing the bags on an automatic feeder which delivers the bags to a bag turner in, a condition to be turned, whence said bags are turned and delivered to a stack; the provision of the said method wherein the bag seams may be inspected after sewing, before being turned,

without further handling by any person; the provision of the continuous method of the class described adapted to reduce the number of separate operations and operators required and one adapted to reduce the total expense for machinery in an installation designed for a given capacity. Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter. i

The invention elements and combination of elements, features of construction, and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the structure hereinafter described, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the following claims.

p In the accompanying drawings, in which isillustrated one of various possible embodiments of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a top plan view illustrating one of the combinations of elements required to carry out the new method;

Fig; 2 is a fragmentary side elevation of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail showing parts broken away below a sewing head and at a one-revolution clutch;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view of certain clamping members; Fig. 5 is a horizontal section taken on line 55 of Fig. 4; and

accordingly comprises thel Fig. 6 is a sectional view showing a portion of said clutch.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

Referring now more particularly to Fig. 1, there is illustrated at S certain sewing apparatus, at F a feeder and at T a bag turning machine.

The sewing apparatus or machine comprises a machine head 1 for performing the conventional stitching operations on bag seams. This machine head is mounted on a table 3 of the type ordinarily used in bag factories. The conventional means for accurately starting, stopping and controlling the operation of the sewing machine are employed but not shown herein.

The sewing machine is equipped with a thread cutting device 5 (Fig. 3). This thread cutter 5 comprises a small pair of shears, one leg 7 of which is pivoted'below the table 3 and behind the sewing needle and the other leg 9 of which is pivoted to said leg 7 in the conventional manner. Theleg 9 is linked to a control bar 11 which is adapted to be operated from the operators knee, the latter acting on a movable plate 13. A spring 15 normally holds the shears open and in position below the upper surface of the table 3. 'The shears are put into cutting position above the table 3, behind the sewing needle (see dotted lines, Fig. 8) by the operator pressing the plate 13 to the right with her knee K. She may control the conventional starting and stopping operations of the sewing machine with her foot (not shown).

On the operators left (Fig. 1), the table 8 is widened out to form a platform 17 upon which a stack of bag blanks 19 is maintained.

The blanks comprise equal lengths of cloth of the size required, which may be printed, and are'folded with their print or face side in, ready to have the open seam sewed to form bags. Each blank is folded along the edge 21 thereby leaving an open top 23. Thus an open right-hand side seam and an open bottom seam remain to be sewed shut.

Ordinarily, an operator grasps the righthand open corner Z of the unsewed bag with the table 3 with both hands.

her left hand and she then draws the cloth over to the sewing head. As the cloth moves over, her left hand travels to the left, along the open top 23, with her fore finger inserted between the two layers of cloth as her right hand grasps the cloth. This results in the unfinished bag being straightened out as its seam is about to be formed in passing through the sewing machine. After the. bag is thus straightened, the left hand is used in arranging the lower portions of the bag in a. manner to be described, as the right hand feeds the unfinished right-hand seam beneath the sewing head 1'.

A finished right-hand seam 25 on a finished bag R is shown in Fig. 1. hen the corner 27 of the unfinished bag is reached, the operator turns the blank through 90 degrees on Thereafter the lower seam 29 is formed by feeding the blank through with the right hand and reaching for another blank with the left hand. The left hand is employed in manipulating the open corner of the next bag to align said corner as the right hand completes the feeding of the previous bag. As is well known, the sewing operation of the sewing machine tends to draw the blank through the sewing machine as the seam is formed. Hence the cloth needs only be guided through the sewing machine after sewing has once started.

The present invention is for the purpose of making use of some of the aforesaid movements of the operator to permit-of feeding the sewed bag into and through a bag turner, whereby the seams are turned rough side in. Heretofore the bag has been permitted to drop from the sewing machine, from whence it was picked up by an inspector, examined and placed on a stack, prior to the operation of a third operator in feeding it through the bag turner.

In order to eliminate many of these wasteful elements of the old method, there is provided herein, behind the sewing machine, on the side opposite the operator, said feeder F. This feeder F comprises a cross shaft 31 rotatably mounted in standards 33 and 35. In side elevation, (Fig. 2) the cross shaft 31 is mounted somewhat above the point X at which the seam is sewed, that is, substantially on a 30 degree line drawn rearwardly and upwardly from the sewing point X.

\Vithin the lateral limits of the standards 33, 35, the cross shaft 31 is provided with two hubs 37, from each of which extend six radial arms 39. The width between the sets of six arms is slightly less than the width ofa bag. The hubs 37 are made fast to the shaft 31, so that rotative movement of the shaft 31 will be transmitted to the arms. It may be noted that the described positioning of the shaft 31 above the point X results in one of the arms 39 being sloped downwardly to reach in proximity to the point X and the opposite function.

arm 39 being sloped upwardly to reach in proximity to the open mouth 41 of the bag turning apparatus T.

Each .arm 39 is provided at its outward end with a clamp 43, the outer end of which is held in closed position against the respective arm by av leaf spring 45 reacting to throw a tail piece 47 outwardly (Fig. 4). Each clamp 43 is formed substantially in the plane of the arm 39 to which it is fastened (Fig. 5). In order to obtain automatic opening of the clamps when they reach a position proximate to the sewing point X, each clamp is provided with. an offset nose 47 which is adapted to engage another offset nose 49 formed on a detent lever 51. The detent lever 51 on the right hand side of the machine is pivotally held in place on a goose-neck member 53 reaching over the right hand set of six arms 39. This goose neck comprises an extension of the right hand frame portion 33. The lever 51 on the left hand side of the machine is pivoted directly on the frame portion 35.

. Each detent lever 51 is controlled to oscillate by a link 55 pivoted thereto, which link is slidably mounted on the respective frame member and carries a hall 57 on its outer end. A spring 59 tends normally to hold the ball outward toward the sewing mechanism, thereby maintaining the detent 51 in a position whereby the offset nose 49 thereon will engage the offset noses 47 of the successive clamps as the two sets of clamps rotate. The effect of this is that as the clamps rotate (Fig. 4) into position near the sewing point X, they are opened by the noses or dogs 49. Further motion of the arms is then impossible until the balls 57 are pressed, thereby moving the noses 49 out of position and permitting the noses 47 on the clamps to spring downwardly. When the noses 47 a spring downwardly and out of the way, then the noses 49 are in a position to return when pressure is taken from the balls 57. Insofar as the levers 51 are offset and do not interfere with the rotation of the arms 39, the described mechanism functions as a manual or hand operated release for the feeder F and also as a hand operated means for closing the clamps, the latter being the primary Fig. 4 indicates how the positions of the detents 51 are limited by suitable stops.

It is now evident that if the shaft 31 can be given intermittent 60-degree movements, so as to place the extending arms successively in the positions shown in Fig. 2, then the sewing machine operator may feed the bags directly into the open clamps as they successively come into position and manipulate the clamps to close them. The successive movements of the arms 39 will carry each bag around to the mouth of the turning machine formed opening 65, with which latter opening two rollers 67 and 69 are adapted to register. These rollers are rotatably supported in side brackets and engage one another in rolling contact, the upper roller 69 being slidably mounted so as to compensate for vertical movement. The lower roller 67 is driven in a counter-clockwise direction (Fig. 2) by means of a driving pulley 71. Both rollers engage suitable, more or less flexible, lips ,2-5 around the opening 65 to prevent leakage into the wind trunk 63.

At the right-hand side of the machine, the shaft 73, on which thelower roller 67 is placed, is provided with apinion which meshes with a cam gear 77, which gear 77 is rotatably mounted on a cam shaft 79 (see also Fig. 3). The cam shaft 79 rotates a cam plate 81 at the leftof the machine. It is evident from the above that the cam plate 81 will rotate in a clockwise direction (Fig. 2). The gear ratio between the pinion 75 and the cam gear 77 is approximately six to one, the exact amount depending upon the length of bag required to be fed through the rolls 67, 69 during a cyclic operation of the machine.

The cam plate 81 carries an inside cam stud 83 for the purpose of operating a fly shaft mechanism, to be described; and an outside camming stud 85 for the purpose of operating a valve gear and tucking mechanism, also to be described.

The fly shaft mechanism, which is operated by the stud 83 comprises a four bar linkage L having a pendulous crank 87 suspended from an overhanging bracket '89. This crank 87 is adapted to be swung rearwardly by engagement of the stud 83 during approximately one-half revolution of said stud. While not engaged by the stud 83, the crank 87 tends to hang downwardly against a suitable stop, namely the cam shaft 79, the four bar linkage being drawn forward by a spring 91. Fly fingers 93 forming part of the linkage L, are thus thrown from their Fig. 2 position to a horizontal position during the 180 degrees of upward movement of the pin 83. The purpose of this, as will be seen later, is to swing a finished bag downwardly to be stacked as it is passed out of the rolls 67, 69, after having been turned inside out in the wind trunk 63. The fingers 93 move with high velocity (due to the proportions of the mechanism) and the air resistance holds the bags against them as they swing downwardly.

Laterally formed across and inside of the casing or wind trunk 63 is a rock shaft 95, which passes from the interior of the casing at suitable openings on each side. Outside of the casing, the rock shaft 95 is provided with an arm 97 adapted to normally rest against a projecting stop pin 99 but during degrees of movement of the pin 85, to be oscillated through a suitable angle. The angle is such that a valve 101 at the top of the wind trunk 63 is opened and closed. The valve 101 is fastened to the rock shaft by means of upwardly extending members 103.

The valve 101 and the members'103 are all inside of the wind trunk 63. Fig. 2' shows alternate positions of the members 103 and the arm 97.

The rock shaft 95 is also provided on the interior of the casing with a plurality of forwardly sloping tucking fingers 105, the ends of which are adapted to be closely juxtapositioned to the line of contact of the rolls 67, 69, when the arm 97 rests on said pin stop 99. When the arm 97 is in its uppermost position, due to the action of the revolving stud 85, then the ends of the tucking fingers are withdrawn from near the line of contact, that is, when the valve 101 opens. A grating comprising fingers 107 is provided to 0bstruct the passage through the wind trunk, so that if the machine happens to function imperfectly at a particular time, no bags will be drawn into the suction blower.

The operation of the bag turner 'is as follows:

An open bag is positioned at the mouth 41. The valve 101 opens and the tucking fingers lift, due to coordinating features, to be made clear. The resulting draft of air up through the casing or wind trunk 63 turns or snaps the bag inside out up into the casing. The

upper end of the bag is thus pressed some what up against the rolls. Next, the tucking fingers descend as the valve 101 closes and the bag is tucked into the rolls 67, 69 and fed out of the wind trunk. As the mouth (the last portion) of the bag leaves the rolls the fly fingers 93 whip into a horizontal position to throw the bag, which has been fed over them, horizontally onto the stack Y. The fly fingers become operative under action of the pin 83 on the pendulous crank 87.

The above operation is repeated as fast as bags are brought to the mouth 41.

The feeder mechanism F is coordinated with the bag turner T by fastening a crank 108 to the cam shaft 79 and providing said crank with a pin 109 adapted to engage a crank 111 to oscillate it against the reaction of a spring 113 as the crank 108 turns with the cam shaft 79. Pivoted to said crank 111 is a connecting rod 115 which is pivoted to a second crank 117 swinging freely on the feeder shaft 31. A pawl 119 is fastened to the crank 117 and under action of one oscillation of the mechanism drives disc 121 fastened to said shaft 31. Driving is accomplished by engagement of the pawl 119 with one of six suitable pins 123 on the disc 121. Each oscillation of the crank 111 results in turning the six armed feeder mechanism through 60 degrees, that is, each pair of arms takes up the position previously occupied by the next set. ahead.

It is evident from the above that if one bag is to be fed to the feeding mechanism as it is sewed, then it will be necessary to cause the turning mechanism to take one bag away from the feeding mechanism each time one bag is sewed. In order to accomplish this result, the gear 77 on the cam shaft 79 (Fig. 3) is provided with a one-revolution clutch operable to drive the cam shaft 79 onerevolution every time that the operators knee K pushes the plate 13. In other words the operators knee is effective from. time to time to cause cutting off of the thread of one bag and also to cause one-revolution of the cam shaft 79, whereby one bag is'released from the sewing machine and another is released from the feeding mechanism and drawn through the turning device to be turned and placed on the stack Y.

The one-revolution clutch comprises a crown clutch ring 125 keyed to the shaft 79. A recess 127 permits one of a pair of bolts 129 to spring into and engageagainst one side of the recess. Each bolt 129is slidably located in the gear 7 7 and is normally locked back by a radially sliding dog 131. When not locked in place, the bolt may spring inwardly to close the clutch. The dog 131- is adapted to be drawn downwardly against the reacting spring by a lug 133 on a knife cam 135. By this action the bolt 129 is permitted to spring forwardly until it enters the recess 127. This results in the cam shaft 79 being driven from the gear 77.

The cam 135 carries a camming portion 137 thereon adapted to return the bolt 129 from the pocket 127 upon one revolution of the clutch. When the bolt 129 is returned into its pocket, the radial dog 131 is automatically effective to hold it back in place until the cam 135 is again drawn down. Hence an instantaneous depression of the cam 135 results in the gear 77 driving the cam shaft 79 for one complete revolution.

As shown in the drawings. two bolts 129 are shown for the purpose of obtaining an action without ever waiting for more than 180 degrees of movement of the gear 7 7 It is to be understood that the above description of the clutch is only given to clarify the operation of the clutch and not because the clutch is new per se. One-revolution clutches of the type described are conventional.

Fig. 3 illustrates a connecting rod 138 pivotally joined to an extension 139 of the cam 135 and extending to a pivotal connection.

on a bell crank lever 141 rotatably supported with respect to the table 3. The bar 11 and plate 13 are connected to the bell crank 141 so that av single pressure on said plate 13 causes the shears to come into operation and the cam shaft 79 to rotate once. This means that the seam of a bag has just been completed and that the bag has been delivered to the feeding machine in the manner to be described, that one bag has been fed to the feeding machine in the manner to be described and that the bag fed to the turning machine passes completely through said turning machine to be turned and placed on the stack Y.

The remaining mechanism to be described comprises means for opening the mouth of a bag at the mouth 41 of the wind trunk 63 of the turning machine. This mechanism (Fig 2) comprises a crank 143 normally spring returned against a stop 145, the upper end of which crank is adapted to be successively engaged by the intermittently moving pins 123 and to be released from said pins as they 5 move upwardly along the periphery of the disc on which they are mounted.

The crank 143 is linked to a crank finger 146 by means of connecting rod 147. The crank finger 146'is joined to a similar finger on the opposite side of the machine by means of a rod 149. In other words, a pair of fingers 146 is made operative from the crank 143, each finger 146 being operative in the vicinity of the respective groups of six clamp arms.

The fingers 146 are hook shaped and when in their forward solid line position shown in Fig. 2, are adapted to catch into the mouth of a bag as the bag moves upwardly. As the fingers 1'46 hook the bag, one of the pins 123 becomes operative on the crank 143 whereby the fingers 146 are moved up and rearwardly into their dotted line position shown in Fig. 2. This results in the bag being gradually opened as it approaches the mouth 41.

When the respective arm 39 carrying the bag reaches the position shown in Fig. 2 it stops for the reasons hereinbefore made clear and as the machine is next operated the bag is turned inside out as said arm 39 moves away. The clamp 43 in question is pulled off of the bag edge as said clamp draws away, while the other edge of the bag is pulled up and away from the book ends of the fingers 146. Said hook ends of the fingers 146 are rounded and smooth enough to prevent the hooks from passing through the cloth, thus permitting the cloth to slide off of the hooks as it is drawn upwardly.

The complete operation of the machine is as follows:

The operator is seated at or near the point 0 (Fig. 1'). She grasps with her left hand the open corner Z of a folded bag blank and draws said blank over beneath the sewing head 1. She then feeds the right hand edge of the bag through the sewing mechanism to form the seam 25, one hand passing on each side of the sewing needle (see arrows M, N Fig. 1).

At this stage all the mechanism is stationary except the sewing head and the cam gear 77. The cam gear 77 normally does not cause movement of the turning mechanism.

The fore finger of the operators left hand is positioned in the mouth of the bag and as the hand passes out from over the sewing plate her knuckle strikes the right hand ball 57 whereby the previously open clamp 43 (near the sewing point X) is caused to spring shut and grip the upper layer of cloth of the bag which has been fed to the clamp.

The operator then passes her left hand'to the left, across the mouth 23 of the bag, to

i the left-hand folded edge 21 and in so doing straightens the bag and places the upper layer of cloth in the other open left-hand clamp 43, while her knuckle now strikes the left-hand ball 57 to cause closing of the clamp on the bag (see arrow V, Fig. 1). During the above interim the operators right hand is guiding the right hand edge of the bag through the sewing machine as the right hand seam 25 is being formed.

Next, the operators left hand is employed in arranging the bag so that its rear portions drop over the rear edge of the sewing table as the seam 25 is being formed. The front edge is now hanging on the feeding mechanism. The operator retains enough cloth on the table so that when the lower right hand corner 27 is reached, she may twist the lower portion of the bag around through 90 degrees which permits sewing of the bottom seam 29.

After the lower portion of the bag has been turned 90 degrees as described, then onlythe 1 0 right hand of the operator is required to feed through the seam portion 29, while her left hand again reaches toward the corner Z of the next bag. The weight of the sewed portion of the bag in dropping over the rear edge of the table 3 is now effective to draw the remainder down over said edge. When the seam 29 is completed the operator presses the plate 13 to the right with her knee and thereby cuts the seaming thread and at the same time sets the one-revolution clutch in operation to rotate the cam shaft 79 once. It is to be understood that thread cutting may be accomplished automatically at the completion of a seam, that is, without any movement of the operator. This means that the operation of 65 the one-revolution clutch may be automatic is brought up to the mouth 41. At this time the bag which the operator has just fed on to the feeding mechanism is carried down one-sixth of a turn as a new pair of clamps come into position near the sewing point X and are automatically opened in the manner above described and shown in Fig. 4.

It is evident from Fig. 2 that the opening movement linkage, operable from the crank 143, is delayed somewhat in order to permit of the feeding mechanism bringing the bag up to the hook ends of the fingers 146.

It is only necessary for the operator to push the plate 13 instantaneously, because the shears operate immediately and the closing action of the clutch is effective for a complete revolution, after which said clutch automatically throws itself out of engagement.

In Fig. 2 is illustrated.a spring pressed member 148 which engages the pin plate 121 for the purpose of resiliently maintaining the feeding mechanism in a given'position when not operated upon by the automatic means herein described] 1 One of the advantages of this combination rests on the factthat the sewing machine operator makes use of the motion that she is ordinarily required to make in sewing to feed the bag to an automatic feeding de vice which delivers the bag to a bag turner,v

where it is turned and stacked.

A further advantage is the fact that'thi s system provides for inspection of the bags at the same time. Hereto fore an inspector was statloned'behmd thesewing machine to pick up each'bag to'eXaminethe seams to see I that they were all perfectand not open at any point. When' the' present invention is used, a plurality of bags are always hanging from the feedingme'chanism in full view of an inspector who may examine them without touching them. f By this means one inspector may walk from machine tomachinej and at a glance inspect manyftim'esfthe number of bags that she previously "could. The hand laborrequired'to feedtlfre bags to the turner isalso eliminated.

.Under certain conditionsfthe feeder may be used advantageously withthebag turner.

alone, eliminating the sewing machine by setting it elsewhere. In this case the operator places the sewed bags directly on the feeder as itcontinuously moves, the one-revolution clutch being closed permanently by removing the cam piece 135 after the bolts 129 have been permitted to spring to closed position. Or the manual operation from the knee plate 13 may be maintained by retaining the clutch and operating linkage therefor but removing the sewing machine connections thereto.

Under the last-named conditions, the operator can feed bags faster to the feeder than she could directly to the opening 41 in the wind trunk of the turner because she needs not open them, this being done automatically. Other advantages will present themselves.

It is to be understood that when narrower bags are made, that the sets of arms 39 may be brought closer together and a narrower month ll used on the wind trunk ($3 of the bag turner, with corresponding changes in the positions of the opening fingers 146. For very narrow or small bags it may be advisable to have only one set of arms 39 using relatively wide clamps. This would necessitate the use of only one opening finger 146 instead of a pair of fingers.

In view of the above. it will be seen that the several objects of the invention are achieved and other advantageous results at tained.

As many changes could be made in carrying out the above constructions without departing from the scope of the inventiomit is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. Bag manufacturing apparatus comprising a sewing machine, feeding apparatus working in connection with the outlet of the sewing machine, clamping means on said feeding apparatus adapted to effect support of a bag such that the bag hangs downwardly and a bag turner cooperating with the feeding apparatus to receive bags therefrom and turn them.

2. Bag manufacturing apparatus comprismg a sewing machine, an intermittently operable feeding apparatus working in connec tion with the outlet of the sewing machine, a plurality of holding means on said feeding apparatus, said holding means permittin suspension of the bags downwardly, an means for taking bags from said feeding means.

3. Bag manufacturing apparatus comprismg a sewing machine, a bag turner, feeding apparatus between the sewing machine and the bag turner for receiving from the former and delivering to the latter, means for intermittently operating the feeding apparatus and means for supporting thereon several bags at a time, said feeding apparatus suspending the bags by their months 4. In bag manufacturing apparatus, a bag turner, a sewing machine, feeding apparatus associated with the sewing machine to receive bags therefrom, at least one clamp on the feeding apparatus, means for moving said feeding apparatus so that said clamp takes up a position near the sewing machine, means normally holding said clamp shut, means for temporarily opening the same and means near the sewing machine for reclosing the clamps on the bags, whereby a hand in sewing a bag on the sewing machine may deliver bags to said clamps, when open and reclose said clamps with one movement.

5. In bag manufacturing apparatus, a bag turner, a sewing machine, feeding apparatus associated with the sewing machine for receiving bags therefrom, a plurality of (lamps on the feeding apparatus, means for intermittently moving said feeding apparatus so that said clamps rest at predetermined points, One of said points being near the sewing machine and another near the turner, said clamps taking up other positions therebetween, means for normally holding the clamps shut and means for temporarily opening the same at the point near the sewing machine.

6. In hag manufacturing apparatus, a bag turner, a sewing machine, feeding apparatus associated with the sewing machine for receiving bags therefrom, a plurality of clamps on the feeding apparatus, means for intermittently moving said feeding apparatus so that said clamps rest at predetermined points, one of said points being near the sewing machine and another near the turner, said clamps taking up other positions therebetween, means for normally holding the clamp shut and means for temporarily opening the same at the point near the sewing machine, said clamps holding the bags at their mouths and permitting gravitational suspension of the same.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification this 20th day of November, 1926.

CHARLES F. SPARKS. 

